CN115118831B

CN115118831B - Image forming system, inspection apparatus, and inspection method

Info

Publication number: CN115118831B
Application number: CN202210234424.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 北井正
Original assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-19
Filing date: 2022-03-10
Publication date: 2024-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 2042-03-10
Also published as: JP7647212B2; US20220300219A1; EP4060413A1; CN115118831A; EP4060413B1; US11645016B2; JP2022145188A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image forming system, an inspection apparatus, and an inspection method for easily finding a transport medium discharged when a defect is detected. The image forming system includes: an image forming section that forms an image based on the print information on a first conveyance medium; an information acquisition section that acquires information related to an image formed on the first conveying medium by the image forming section; a discharge control section that performs control of discharging a second conveying medium when an image formed on the first conveying medium is defective, based on information related to the acquired image; a discharge unit that discharges the first conveyance medium and the second conveyance medium, and a display control unit that controls to display identification information that differently associates the discharged defective first conveyance medium and second conveyance medium.

Description

Image forming system, inspection apparatus, and inspection method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an image forming system, an inspection apparatus, an inspection method, and a storage medium storing a program.

Background

A technique of detecting a defect of an image formed by an image forming apparatus from a result of reading the image formed by the image forming apparatus has been disclosed. In addition, a known technique is to insert an insert (insert sheet) printed with an image or the like between sheets of a printed matter, the insert being used to easily find a printed matter in which a defect is detected from sheets of the printed matter loaded on a tray.

Patent document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus that displays the position of an inserted insert on a display unit.

In the conventional technique, there is a problem that, when a specific first conveyance medium in which a defect is detected is to be found out, it is difficult to find a corresponding second conveyance medium when a second conveyance medium such as an onsert is discharged in plural sheets as the defect is detected among the plural sheets of first conveyance media in which images are formed.

The aim of the disclosed technique is to easily find the transport medium that is ejected when a defect is detected.

[ Patent document 1 ] Japanese patent application publication No. 2010-520087

Disclosure of Invention

The disclosed technology is an image forming system, including: an image forming section that forms an image based on the print information on a first conveyance medium; an information acquisition section that acquires information related to an image formed on the first conveying medium by the image forming section; a discharge control section that performs control of discharging a second conveying medium when an image formed on the first conveying medium is defective, based on information related to the acquired image; a discharge unit that discharges the first conveyance medium and the second conveyance medium, and a display control unit that controls to display identification information that differently associates the discharged defective first conveyance medium and second conveyance medium.

The transport medium discharged when the defect is detected can be easily found.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an exemplary diagram showing the overall configuration of an image forming system.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary diagram showing a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus.

Fig. 3 is an exemplary diagram showing a hardware configuration of the printer main body.

Fig. 4 is an exemplary diagram showing a hardware configuration of the inspection apparatus.

Fig. 5 is an exemplary diagram illustrating the function of the DFE.

Fig. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing functions of the printer main body.

Fig. 7 is an exemplary diagram showing the function of the inspection apparatus.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing items of job information.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary diagram of pattern information.

Fig. 10 is a first diagram showing an example of the insert print information.

Fig. 11 is a timing chart showing an example of the flow of the printing process without an insert.

Fig. 12 is a timing chart showing an example of the flow of the print processing with an onsert.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of the inspection process.

Fig. 14 is an illustration of an insert.

Fig. 15 is an exemplary view of a defect display screen.

Fig. 16 is an exemplary view of a job list.

Fig. 17 is a first diagram showing an example of the defect detection page list according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 18 is an exemplary view of a defect detection image.

Fig. 19 is a second diagram showing an example of the defect detection page list according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 20 is a third diagram showing an example of the defect detection page list according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 21 is an exemplary view of a setting screen of the inter-insert insertion interval.

Fig. 22 is a fourth diagram showing an example of the defect detection page list according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 23 is an exemplary view showing the appearance of the discharged sheet.

Fig. 24 is a first diagram showing an example of the defect detection page list according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 25 is a second diagram showing an example of the defect detection page list according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 26 is a first view for explaining a method of discharging a tray.

Fig. 27 is a second view for explaining a method of discharging the tray.

Fig. 28 is a third view for explaining a method of discharging the tray.

Fig. 29 is a fourth view for explaining a method of discharging the tray.

Fig. 30 is an exemplary view showing a defect detection page list when discharged to a plurality of trays.

Detailed Description

(First embodiment)

Next, an embodiment of an image forming system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The image forming system 1 includes an image forming apparatus 10, a user terminal 30, a management server 40, and a DFE50.

The image forming apparatus 10 is an apparatus that forms an image, and is, for example, a color production type printer, a laser printer, an inkjet printer, or the like. The image forming apparatus 10 receives image data from the DFE50 and prints an image on a sheet based on the received image data. Further, paper is an example of a conveyance medium to be an object of forming an image.

The user terminal 30 is a terminal that accepts an operation by a user to instruct printing of an image. Specifically, the user terminal 30 transmits print job data including image data to the DFE50 or the management server 40. The user terminal 30 receives a user operation and transmits information indicating a threshold value in the color stabilization process to the DFE50. Further, the user terminal 30 receives the display control of the DFE50, and displays a screen indicating the execution status of the color stabilization process.

When the management server 40 receives print job data from the user terminal 30, it adds it as a waiting line to the storage section storing print job data waiting for printing. Then, the management server 40 extracts print job data from the waiting lines in the order of addition to the waiting lines or the appropriately set priority, and transmits to the DFE50.

The DFE50 is a device for controlling the image forming apparatus 10, and is, for example, a DFE (Digital Front End: digital front end). The DFE50 is communicably connected to the image forming apparatus 10, the user terminal 30, and the management server 40.

When the DFE50 receives print job data together with a signal instructing image printing from the user terminal 30 or the management server 40, it converts the print job data into image data of a format that can be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 by a built-in RIP (RASTER IMAGE Processor: raster image Processor) engine, and transmits the print job data including the converted image data to the image forming apparatus 10.

The image forming apparatus 10 includes a printer main body 11, an inspection apparatus 13, and a stacking apparatus 14.

The printer main body 11 receives print job data including a print image (RIP image) from an external device such as the DFE 50. Then, the printer main body 11 performs printing in accordance with the received execution instruction of the print job data or based on the execution instruction of the print job data stored in the printer main body 11 caused by the operation of the operation panel 12 or the like by the user.

The printer main body 11 has a configuration in which photosensitive drums 116, 115, 114, 113 of respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black (hereinafter, Y, M, C, K, respectively) are arranged along an intermediate transfer belt 111 as an endless moving mechanism. The images of the respective colors developed by the toners on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums of the respective colors are overlapped by the intermediate transfer belt 111 and form a full-color image.

The formed full-color image is transferred onto the surface of the sheet fed from the sheet feed tray 105 and conveyed by the conveying roller by the transfer roller 112. After that, the sheet is further conveyed, and the toner is fixed by a fixing roller 117. In the case of outputting without printing the insert, another sheet feed tray for the insert may be provided in the sheet feed tray 105. In addition, an apparatus for feeding an insert sheet may be provided between the inspection apparatus 13 or the printer main body 11 and the inspection apparatus 13.

In the duplex printing, after forming an image on the surface, the sheet is conveyed to a reversing path 118 in the conveying path, and is conveyed again to the position of the transfer roller 112 after the front and back sides are reversed.

The inspection device 13 is a device for inspecting printed paper output from the printer main body 11. The printed paper to be inspected can be said to be the first conveyance medium in the present invention. The inspection device 13 includes a first inline sensor 131, a second inline sensor 132, and an operation panel 133. In this case, the inspection device 13 may be configured to receive an operation of the operation panel 12 provided in the printer main body 11 or a computer connected via a communication network, without the operation panel 133.

The first inline sensor 131 and the second inline sensor 132 read images on sheets of paper fixed on both sides after the fixing of the sheets of paper by the fixing roller 117, and acquire read image data representing the read images. The number of the in-line sensors may be not two, but may be one or three or more as long as both sides can be read. The inline sensor includes a light source and a line image sensor. The line image sensor includes a plurality of image pickup elements for photoelectrically converting and reading reflected light obtained by irradiating light from a light source to a sheet passing through a reading position for each pixel, and the image pickup elements are arranged in a one-dimensional shape in a sheet width direction. The in-line sensor reads an image printed on a sheet as a two-dimensional image by repeating a reading operation of an image of one line extending in a sheet width direction in accordance with a sheet passing operation of a sheet passing through a reading position. In addition, the line image sensor can obtain a read image of three colors of RGB (red, green, and blue). The inline sensor is an example of an information acquisition unit that acquires information related to an image of a sheet. The information acquisition unit may acquire information other than the read image data as long as the information is used for detecting a defect, such as the image data or the bibliographic information of the image data.

The stacking device 14 has a tray 141, and stacks printed sheets discharged from the printer main body 11 via the inspection device 13 onto the tray 141. The stacking device 14, the tray 141, and the like are examples of the discharging unit in the present application for discharging and stacking printed sheets and inserts. The stacking device 14 may have a plurality of trays 141.

In the present embodiment, for example, it is assumed that the RIP image is in CMYK format, each color is 8bit and 600dpi, the read image is in RGB format, and each color is 8bit and 200dpi, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The printer main body 11 includes a controller 1110, a near field communication circuit 1120, an engine control section 1130, an operation panel 12, and a network I/F1150.

Among them, the controller 1110 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit: central processing unit) 1101, a system memory (MEM-P) 1102, a North Bridge (NB) 1103, a South Bridge (SB) 1104, an ASIC (Application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit) 1106, a local memory (MEM-C) 1107 as a storage section, an HDD (HARD DISK DRIVE: hard disk drive) controller 1108, and an HD1109 as a storage section, which are main parts of the computer.

The NB1103 and the ASIC1106 are connected to each other via an AGP (ACCELERATED GRAPHICS Port: accelerated graphics Port) bus 1121.

The CPU1101 is a control unit that performs overall control of the printer main body 11. NB1103 is a bridge connecting CPU1101 and MEM-P1102, SB1104 and AGP bus 1121, and has a memory controller for controlling reading and writing to MEM-P1102, a PCI (PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT: peripheral component interconnect standard) host and an AGP target.

The MEM-P902 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1102a as a Memory for storing programs and data for realizing the functions of the controller 1110, and a RAM (Random Access Memory: random access Memory) 1102b such as a drawing Memory for expanding programs and data and for printing the Memory. The program stored in the RAM1102b may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as CD-ROM, FD, CD-R, DVD in an installable or executable file.

SB1104 is a bridge for connecting NB1103 and PCI devices, peripheral devices. ASIC1106 is an IC (INTEGRATED CIRCUIT: integrated circuit) for image processing having hardware elements for image processing, and functions as a bridge for connecting AGP bus 1121, PCI bus 1122, HDD controller 1108, and MEM-C1107, respectively.

ASIC1106 includes a PCI target and AGP host, an Arbiter (ARB) that is a core of ASIC206, a memory controller that controls MEM-C1107, a plurality of DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controller: direct memory access controller) that perform rotation of image data or the like by hardware logic or the like, and a PCI unit that performs data transfer between scan section 1131 and print section 1132 via PCI bus 1122. The ASIC1106 may be connected via an interface of USB (Universal Serial Bus: universal serial bus), an interface of IEEE1394 (Institute of ELECTRICAL AND Electronics Engineers: institute of electrical and electronics engineers 1394), or the like.

MEM-C1107 is a local memory used as a duplicate image buffer and code buffer. HD1109 is a memory for storing image data, font data used in printing, and format. The HD1109 controls reading or writing of data to the HD1109 according to control of the CPU 1101.

The AGP bus 1121 is a bus interface used by a graphics accelerator card proposed for the purpose of speeding up graphics processing. The AGP bus 1121 can make the graphics accelerator card high-speed by directly accessing the MEM-P1102 with high throughput.

In addition, the near field communication circuit 1120 is provided with a near field communication antenna 1120a. The near field communication circuit 1120 is a communication circuit NFC, bluetooth (registered trademark) or the like.

Further, the engine control unit 1130 is composed of a scanner unit 1131 and a printer unit 1132. The operation panel 12 includes a panel display 12a such as a touch panel for displaying a current setting value, a selection screen, and the like and receiving an input from a user, and a hard key 12b for receiving a setting value of a condition related to image formation such as a setting condition of density and a start key for receiving a copy start instruction.

The controller 1110 performs overall control of the printer main body 11, such as control drawing, communication, input from the operation panel 12, and the like. The scanner unit 1131 reads an image formed on a transport medium such as paper, and generates image data. The printing unit 1132 includes a transfer mechanism for transferring an image using a color material such as a toner image onto a transport medium such as paper, a fixing mechanism for fixing the image, a heating mechanism, a drying mechanism, or the like, and forms an image on the paper. Still further, the scanner section 1131 or the printer section 1132 performs image processing such as error diffusion and gamma conversion.

The network I/F1150 is an interface for data communication by using a communication network. Near field communication circuitry 1120 and network I/F1150 are electrically connected to ASIC1106 through PCI bus 1122.

The inspection apparatus 13 includes a first inline sensor 131, a second inline sensor 132, an operation panel 133, a CPU134 composed of a computer, a ROM135, a RAM136, an HDD/SSD (Solid STATE DRIVE: solid state drive) 137, a network I/F138, and an external I/F139.

The CPU134 reads a program stored in the ROM135 or HDD/SSD137, and stores it in the RAM 136. Then, the CPU134 executes various processes described later according to programs stored in the RAM 136.

ROM135 is a non-volatile secondary storage device. The ROM135 stores a program such as a BIOS that defines basic operations of the inspection device 13.

RAM136 is a volatile main memory device. The RAM136 is used as a work area of the CPU 134.

The HDD/SSD137 is a large-capacity nonvolatile auxiliary storage device. The HDD/SSD137 stores received read image data, programs for various processes described later, setting information, and the like.

The network I/F138 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network: local area network) card or the like, and is a repeater for communication with other devices via a communication network.

The external I/F139 is a repeater for communication with devices connected as external devices, specifically, the DFE50, the printer main body 11, the stacking apparatus 14, and the like.

The dfe50 has the same hardware configuration as the inspection device 13 except for the first inline sensor 131, the second inline sensor 132, and the operation panel 133.

Fig. 5 is an exemplary diagram illustrating the function of the DFE.

The DFE50 includes a system control section 501, a print job receiving section 502, a storage section 503, a print job transmitting section 504, and a display control section 505. These are realized by the CPU of the DFE50 executing a process prescribed by a program stored in the ROM or the like.

The system control unit 501 includes a job information processing unit 551, RIP processing unit 552, control information storage unit 553, and gradation correction unit 554.

The job information processing section 551 processes information on a job included in the print job data.

The RIP processing unit 552 performs a predetermined color conversion process based on a RIP engine or the like on CMYK values or RGB values of the input image data, and converts the CMYK values or RGB values into RIP image data suitable for the CMYK format or the like of the image forming apparatus 10.

The control information storage unit 553 stores control information processed by the system control unit 501.

The gradation correction unit 554 corrects the gradation of the image data converted by the RIP processing unit 552.

The print job receiving section 502 receives print job data from the user terminal 30, the management server 40, and the like via the communication network 60.

The storage section 503 stores the received print job data.

The print job transmitting section 504 transmits print job data generated by the processing of the system control section 501 to the image forming apparatus 10. The print job data transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10 includes job information indicating the attribute of the print job and RIP image data.

The display control unit 505 performs control to display the display information generated by the system control unit 501 on the display device 51 or the like.

Fig. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing functions of the printer main body.

The printer main body 11 includes a system control section 201, a display control section 202, a network I/F control section 203, an external I/F control section 204, a storage section 205, a mechanism control section 206, a print job receiving section 207, an image processing control section 208, and a print control section 209. They are realized by the CPU1101 or the ASIC1106 executing processing specified by a program stored in the MEM-P1102 or the MEM-C1107 or the like.

The system control unit 201 controls the entire printer main body 11. The system control unit 201 includes a job information processing unit 211, a RIP processing unit 212, and a job information generating unit 213.

The job information processing section 211 processes job information included in the print job data transmitted from the DFE 50. The RIP processing section 212 processes RIP image data included in print job data transmitted from the DFE 50. When receiving information (insert print information) printed on an insert from the inspection device 13, the job information generation unit 213 generates job information for printing the insert. The image printed on the insert is specified in advance in a format specified based on the insert print information. Then, information indicating a format for the onsert printing is stored in the storage section 205. The format may be determined for each type or size of paper. The format may be stored in the storage unit 205 in advance, or the inspection device 13 may transmit the first-time insert print information together with the first-time insert print information.

The insert (insertion paper) may be a sheet-like conveyance medium such as paper that can be conveyed by the printer body 11. The conveyance medium may be any sheet such as a film or plastic, as long as the conveyance medium has identification information of an insert (conveyance medium) and is conveyed and output by an instruction to output the insert when placed in a paper feed tray provided in the printer main body 11, and a sheet such as a colored sheet, a blank sheet, or a blank sheet having a size different from that of a job may be used. The onserts may be referred to as second transport media relative to the first transport media as printed sheets. In addition to the identification information of the insert (second conveyance medium) being printed on the image forming portion of the printer body 11, the insert may be originally provided or printed, or the size of paper, the direction of discharge, or the like may be used as the identification information of the insert (second conveyance medium). The identification information of the insert (second conveyance medium) is an example of "identification information in which a defective plurality of first conveyance mediums and a defective plurality of second conveyance mediums are respectively associated with each other in a distinguished manner". The identification information of the insert (second conveyance medium) may be information indicating second conveyance mediums on which images are formed on the respective second conveyance mediums, and which correspond to the respective defective first conveyance mediums. The image forming section of the printer main body 11 controls the printer section 1132 to perform image formation including identification information of the second conveyance medium in the second conveyance medium. Thus, even if a plurality of defective printing papers and a plurality of inserts corresponding to the defective printing papers are discharged to a discharge portion such as a tray, the user can easily distinguish the inserts from each other and can easily confirm the defective printing papers corresponding to the respective inserts.

The display control section 202 performs control to display various information including job information on the operation panel 12. The network I/F control unit 203 controls the network I/F1150 to perform connection control with the communication network. When another device is connected, the external I/F control unit 204 performs connection control with the connected other device. The storage 205 stores various information including job information.

The mechanism control unit 206 controls the operation of the mechanism included in the printer main body 11, such as paper conveyance and transfer processing of the printer main body 11 including the printing unit 1132. The print job receiving section 207 receives print job data from the DFE50 or the like. The image processing control unit 208 processes the print image transferred by the mechanism control unit 206. The print control unit 209 performs control of image formation on the conveyance medium. The mechanism control section 206, the image processing control section 208, and the print control section 209 cooperatively function as an image forming section that forms an image on a conveyance medium. The information acquisition unit such as an in-line sensor may acquire information related to the image from the image after the toner is fixed by the fixing roller 117, or may acquire information related to the image from the image before the toner is transferred by the transfer roller 112 and enters the fixing roller 117.

The inspection apparatus 13 includes a system control unit 301, a display control unit 302, a network I/F control unit 303, an external I/F control unit 304, a storage unit 305, a mechanism control unit 306, a print image reading unit 307, a main image generation unit 308, and a difference image generation unit 309. They are realized by the CPU134 or ASIC1106 executing processing prescribed by a program stored in the MEM-P1102 or MEM-C1107 or the like.

The system control unit 301 controls the entire inspection apparatus 13. The system control section 301 includes a control information storage section 311, a job information processing section 312, a defect determination section 313, a discharge control section 314, and a discharge setting section 315.

The control information storage unit 311 stores control information processed by the system control unit 301, and temporarily stores the received job information or the like while the control information is being subjected to control.

The job information processing section 312 extracts information to be processed in a post-processing apparatus (for example, an apparatus that performs post-processing such as the stacking apparatus 14) from the job information, and transmits the information to the post-processing apparatus via the external I/F control section 304. The job information processing unit 312 transmits job information other than the information to be processed by the post-processing apparatus to the main image generating unit 308, the defect determining unit 313, the print image reading unit 307, and the mechanism control unit 306.

The display control unit 302 controls the operation panel 133 or other devices to display various pieces of information including the inspection result. Other devices include a terminal device such as a personal computer or tablet used by a user, the DFE50, the printer main body 11, and the like. The display control unit 302 receives a request from software such as a Web browser of another device, and performs processing for returning information stored in the inspection device 13 or the like. The software of the display control unit 302 and other devices can transmit information such as the inspection device 13 to the other devices and display the information in real time using a bidirectional communication protocol such as WebSocket. For example, when a list of defective printing papers is displayed in a list by software access inspection device 13 or the like of another device, the list is automatically updated every time a defect occurs, and information of the defective printing papers or information of an insert page is additionally displayed. The display control unit 302 may be provided as a Web server in the inspection device 13 or the like, or may be provided on a cloud server that receives information of the inspection result from the inspection device 13. The operation panel 133, a display of another device, software such as a Web browser, and the like are examples of the display unit for displaying information by the display control unit 302 of the present invention.

The network I/F control section 303 controls the network I/F138. The external I/F control section 304 controls the external I/F139.

The storage unit 305 stores various information. Specifically, history information of job execution related to the print job whose control has been completed, difference image data indicating the difference between the read image data and the main image data, and the like are stored.

The mechanism control unit 306 controls the operation of the mechanism included in the inspection device 13, such as conveyance of the sheet.

The print image reading section 307 controls the first inline sensor 131, the second inline sensor 132, and the like to read an image formed on a sheet by the printer main body 11, and generates read image data representing the read image.

The main image generation unit 308 generates main image data from RIP image data. Specifically, the main image generation section 308 converts RIP image data in CMYK format into main image data in RGB format.

The main image data is data that is a standard for comparison with the read image data, and functions as correct answer data at the time of correct printing. The main image data may be created by reading a sheet on which an image to be a standard is printed by a scanner or the like of the scanner unit 1131, an inline sensor, or an external device.

The difference image generation section 309 generates difference image data indicating the difference between the main image data and the read image data.

The defect determination section 313 determines whether or not a defect exists in the printed image by comparing the difference image data with a preset threshold value. The threshold value is information (value) that becomes a criterion for determining that there is a defect in the image. The defect determination unit 313 refers to the threshold value, and determines that the image data is defective when there is a region exceeding the threshold value in the difference image data. The threshold value is, for example, a value indicating that the difference (comparison result) of the density value of each pixel included in the difference image data is equal to or larger than a predetermined density value, or a value indicating the area of a portion where pixels having the difference equal to or larger than the predetermined density value are continuous. The threshold may be set by the user to be higher (relaxed criteria) or lower (tightened criteria). Further, the defect refers to a portion of the image data determined to be different from an image (e.g., main image data) desired by the user when the determination result determined by the defect determination unit 313 exceeds a threshold value. Examples of defects include specks, streaks, positional deviations of images, differences in color tone, and omission.

In addition to the method of comparing the main image data and the read image data, the defect determination method may be a determination method of determining whether or not the printed image exceeds a set threshold (a difference from the ideal image data) by using the read image data in which the ideal image data is read before printing. Further, before the defect determination process, correction processes such as oblique movement correction of the read image data of the medium conveyed in an oblique movement to correct orientation or position, flare correction of correcting white light portions in the read image data at the time of reading, and the like may be performed to improve the accuracy of the determination process.

When the defect determination unit 313 determines that the image is defective, the discharge control unit 314 controls to discharge the insert (second conveyance medium) indicating the defect. The insert is a sheet inserted between the sheets of the printed sheet stacked on the stacking device 14, and is a conspicuous tone as described later.

Specifically, when the defect determination unit 313 determines that there is a defect in the image, the ejection control unit 314 determines whether or not an insert should be inserted based on a threshold value of a preset insertion interval (the ejection setting unit 315 receives a setting). When it is determined that an insert should be inserted, information (insert print information) for printing the insert is generated and transmitted to the printer main body 11. Thus, the discharge control unit 314 instructs the image forming unit of the printer body 11 to print the image on the insert. The discharge control unit 314 may supply a predetermined insert (for example, a sheet of color or a sheet of a different size from that used in the job) from a paper supply tray provided in the printer main body 11 or the like, and discharge the insert without printing.

The discharge setting unit 315 receives setting of an interval at which discharge control of the onserts is performed. Specifically, the discharge setting unit 315 receives the input of the threshold value. Specific examples of the screen for accepting settings will be described later.

Next, information handled by the image forming system 1 will be described.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing items of job information.

The job information 901 is bibliographic information included in print job data generated by the DFE50 or the printer main body 11. The job information 901 includes, as items, a job generation source, generation time, page ID, print surface, sheet ID, share ID, job ID, sheet type, sheet size, job type, and insert ID. The job information 901 is one example of print information for performing printing.

The value of the item "job generation source" is a value indicating the generation source of print job data, and is any one of the values of "DFE job" and "internal job". When job information included in print job data transmitted from DFE50 to image forming apparatus 10, the value of item "job generation source" is "DFE job". When the job information generation unit 213 of the printer main body 11 generates print job data for an onsert, the value of the item "job generation source" becomes "internal job" because it is generated inside the image forming apparatus 10.

The value of the item "generation time" is a value indicating the time when the generation source generates the job information.

The value of the item "page ID" is a numerical value for identifying a print image, and 1 is added every 1 page output from the time of power-on. In the item "page ID", a numerical value is set at the time of print execution.

The value of the item "print side" is a value for identifying whether the print image is printed on one side, on the front side (double-sided front side), or on the back side (double-sided back side), when the print image is printed on both sides.

The value of the item "sheet ID" is a numerical value for identifying a sheet, and in the case of duplex printing, two sheet IDs correspond to the same sheet ID. The value of the item "paper ID" is increased by 1 every 1 sheet of paper processed from the time of power on. In the item "paper ID", a numerical value is set at the time of print execution.

The value of the item "share ID" is a numerical value for identifying a share unit, and 1 is added to each output of 1 share from the time of power-on. In the item "share ID", a numerical value is set at the time of print execution.

The value of the item "job ID" is a numerical value for identifying a print job unit, and is increased by 1 every time the output of one job is completed from the time of power-on. In the item "job ID", a numerical value is set at the time of print execution.

The value of the item "sheet type" is a value indicating the type of sheet. The value of the item "paper size" is a value indicating the size of paper. The sheet on which the insert is printed may be selected from the same sheet as the print job in which the defect is detected by setting or the like, and the sheet is placed on a predetermined tray. By using the same paper as the print job for the printing of the insert, a time-consuming process such as readjustment of the fixing temperature is not required, and the processing time can be shortened. In addition, if the paper on which the insert is printed is set as the paper placed in the designated tray, for example, inexpensive paper dedicated to the insert can be used, and the cost can be reduced.

The value of the item "job type" is a value indicating whether it is an object of defect detection, an object of non-defect detection, or an insert for defect detection identification. When the job information generation unit 213 of the printer main body 11 generates print job data for an onsert, the value of the item "job type" is a value indicating that the onsert is for defect detection and identification. In addition, when the value of the item "job type" is a value indicating an object of non-defect detection and an insert for defect detection identification, the processing of the defect determination unit 313 is not performed.

The value of the item "onsert ID" is an identifier for identifying an onsert. The value of the item "insert ID" is notified from the inspection device 13 to the printer main body 11. In addition, in the case of a job generated by the DFE50 or a job other than an onsert generated by the printer main body 11, since the onsert ID does not exist, the item "onsert ID" is set to a value indicating that it does not exist, such as "-1".

Fig. 9 is an exemplary diagram of pattern information.

The pattern information 902 is set in advance and stored in the storage unit 305 or the control information storage unit 311 of the inspection device 13. The discharge control section 314 refers to the pattern information 902 to determine the pattern of the color printed on the onsert. The pattern information 902 includes pattern No. and content as items.

The value of the item "pattern No." is a value indicating the number of each pattern. The value of the item "content" is a value indicating a combination of colors in each pattern.

The control information storage 311 stores a pattern number indicating which pattern of the pattern information 902 the discharge control unit 314 refers to. The initial value of the pattern number at the time of power-on is 0. The discharge control unit 314 adds 1 to the numerical value representing the pattern number stored in the control information storage unit 311 every time a print job for an onsert is generated with reference to the pattern information 902, and returns to 0 when the numerical value exceeds the maximum value.

The pattern information 902 may be changeable by a user. For example, the pattern information 902 may be changed by a user to a maximum value of the pattern (for example, 6 in the example of fig. 9) or a combination of colors corresponding to the pattern No..

Fig. 10 is a first diagram showing an example of the insert print information.

The insert print information 903 is information indicating a combination of colors to print on each insert, and includes an item "insert ID" and a "content".

The value of the item "onsert ID" is an identifier for identifying an onsert.

The value of the item "content" is a value indicating a combination of colors for printing each insert.

The insert print information 903 is information generated by the discharge control unit 314 referring to the pattern information 902. At this time, the discharge control section 314 increments the value indicating the onsert ID by 1 at a time.

Next, the operation of the image forming system 1 will be described.

When the print job receiving section 502 of the DFE50 receives print job data from the user terminal 30 or the management server 40, the job information processing section 551 generates job information (bibliographic information on the print job) for each page. Then, the print job transmitting section 504 transmits job information (for example, n pages) to the printer main body 11 (step S101).

When the print job receiving section 207 of the printer main body 11 receives the job information (n pages), the job information processing section 211 performs processing such as addition of the values indicating the page IDs, updates the received job information (n pages), and transmits the updated job information to the inspection device 13 via the external I/F control section 204 (step S102).

In addition, when the print job receiving section 502 of the DFE50 receives print job data from the user terminal 30 or the management server 40, the RIP processing section 552 of the DFE50 performs processing of converting into RIP image data for each page. The job information processing unit 551 and the RIP processing unit 552 execute processing in parallel, and previously transmit job information of which processing is previously completed to the printer main body 11. For example, the DFE50 generates and transmits job information of n+1 pages and n+2 pages before starting transmission of RIP image data (n pages). Then, the printer main body 11 updates the received job information and transmits it to the inspection device 13 (step S103 to step S106).

Thereafter, the RIP processing unit 552 generates RIP image data (n pages) corresponding to the job information (n pages). The print job transmitting section 504 transmits RIP image data (n pages) to the printer main body 11 (step S107). The RIP processing unit 212 of the printer main body 11 performs necessary processing on the RIP image data and sends the RIP image data to the inspection device 13 (step S108).

The main image generation unit 308 of the inspection device 13 generates main image data (n pages) based on the job information (n pages) and the RIP image data (n pages). Then, the inspection device 13 stores the order of pages detected by the first inline sensor 131 and the second inline sensor 132 in association with the generated main image data in the storage section 305 according to the job information.

The image processing control unit 208, the print control unit 209, and the mechanism control unit 206 of the printer main body 11 execute print processing based on the job information (n pages) (step S109). The printed sheets (n pages) are conveyed to the inspection device 13.

The DFE50 and the printer main body 11 perform the same processing on RIP image data (n+1 pages, n+2 pages) (step S110 to step S115). Then, the print image reading section 307 of the inspection device 13 acquires the read image data (n pages, n+1 pages, n+2 pages) read by the first inline sensor 131 and the second inline sensor 132 (step S116 to step S118).

After that, the difference image generation section 309 of the inspection device 13 generates difference image data representing the difference between the main image data and the read image data for each page. The defect determination unit 313 determines whether or not there is a defect based on the generated difference image data, and generates defect determination information. Then, the discharge control section 314 performs an inspection process including an inspection of whether to discharge the onserts (second conveying medium). Details of the inspection process will be described later.

In the print processing with an onsert shown in fig. 12, steps S201 and S202 are the same as steps S101 and S102 of the print processing without an onsert shown in fig. 11.

If there is an onsert, for example, the defect determination unit 313 determines that there is a defect for n-5 pages that have been printed out, and the discharge control unit 314 determines that an onsert is inserted by inspection processing described later (step S203).

The discharge control unit 314 of the inspection device 13 replaces the "paper count value of the last inserted insert" stored in the control information storage unit 311 with the "paper count value" of the paper that is currently determined to be defective. The "paper count value of the last inserted insert" is the number of pages that become the reference for determining whether or not an insert can be inserted. The inspection device 13 transmits the insert print information 903 (m pages) to the printer body 11 (step S204).

The job information generation unit 213 of the printer main body 11 determines the timing of inserting an interleaf (for example, between n pages and n+1 pages) based on the received interleaf print information 903 (m pages), and generates job information (m pages). Then, the printer main body 11 transmits the generated job information (m pages) to the inspection device 13 (step S205).

Step S206 and step S207 are the same as step S103 and step S104 of the no-insert printing process shown in fig. 11.

Steps S208 to S210 are similar to steps S107 to S109 of the printing process without the insert shown in fig. 11.

At the timing of inserting the onsert (for example, between n pages and n+1 pages), the image processing control section 208, the print control section 209, and the mechanism control section 206 of the printer main body 11 execute the printing process (printing of the onsert) in accordance with the job information (m pages) (step S211). In the present embodiment, since there is no print job of an onsert among the jobs generated by the DFE50, no RIP image of the onsert is transmitted from the DFE50 to the printer main body 11. In step S204, the insert print information 903 for the insert print has been transmitted from the inspection device 13 to the printer main body 11. Note that the insert print information 903 may be transmitted from the inspection device 13 to the printer main body 11 via the DFE50 or the like.

Steps S212 to S214 and S215 are the same as steps S110 to S112 and S116 of the no-insert printing process shown in fig. 11.

The print image reading section 307 of the inspection device 13 acquires the read image data (m pages) read by the first inline sensor 131 and the second inline sensor 132 (step S216). In the case of a print job for an onsert, the main image generation unit 308 does not generate a main image. The inspection device 13 stores the order of pages detected by the first inline sensor 131 and the second inline sensor 132 in the storage unit 305 in association with the generated main image data, based on job information of each page including m pages.

In addition, when the read image data is based on the print job for the onsert (m pages), the inspection device 13 does not perform the inspection process and discards the read image data.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of the inspection process.

When the inspection process is started, the discharge control unit 314 acquires defect determination information (step S301). The defect determination information is information generated by the defect determination unit 313, and includes the following.

Defect determination result of 1 page per print

Paper count value

Insert insertion interval minimum

Wherein the paper count value is set to 0 when the power of the image forming apparatus 10 is turned on, and is incremented by 1 each time a printing paper is discharged to the stacking apparatus 14. The minimum value of the insert insertion interval is preset by receiving a user operation of the operation panel 133 of the inspection device 13.

Next, the discharge control unit 314 refers to the defect determination result included in the defect determination information, and determines whether or not there is a defect (step S302). When the discharge control unit 314 determines that there is no defect (no in step S302), the inspection process is terminated.

When the discharge control unit 314 determines that there is a defect (yes in step S302), it determines whether or not insertion of an onsert is possible (step S303). Specifically, the discharge control unit 314 determines that the insert can be inserted when the following expression 1 is satisfied.

Insert insertion interval minimum < paper count value-paper count value … of last inserted insert (1)

However, when the paper count value of the last inserted insert is 0, the discharge control unit 314 determines that the insert can be inserted regardless of whether expression 1 is true.

That is, when it is determined that printing is defective, the discharge control unit 314 determines that an insert is insertable when (i) the paper count value of the paper determined to be defective this time (the number of output sheets of defective paper) is greater than the paper count value of the insert at the time of last insertion of the insert (the number of output sheets of the insert) by a predetermined insertion interval or more, or (ii) insertion of the insert has not been performed yet.

The determination method is not limited to this, and may be as follows. When it is determined that there is a defect in the image of the first conveyance medium, the discharge control unit 314 does not discharge the second conveyance medium even if it is determined that there is a defect, if it is determined that the discharge of the first conveyance medium is after the discharge of the second conveyance medium and at or below the set interval. On the other hand, when the set interval is exceeded, the second conveyance medium is discharged when it is determined that the first conveyance medium is defective. At this time, the display control unit 302 displays information of the defective first conveyance medium that is discharged after the second conveyance medium that was discharged last time in correspondence with information of the second conveyance medium that was discharged last time.

The paper count value of the last inserted insert is stored in the control information storage portion 311, and is set to 0 when the power of the image forming apparatus 10 is turned on.

When the discharge control unit 314 determines that the insert cannot be inserted (step S303: no), it ends the check processing. When it is determined that the insert can be inserted (yes in step S303), the discharge control unit 314 replaces the "paper count value of the insert inserted last time" stored in the control information storage unit 311 with the "paper count value" and transmits the insert print information 903 (step S304).

When it is determined that the insert cannot be inserted, the discharge control unit 314 may wait until the time when the insert can be inserted, and then insert the insert again. That is, by inserting the print job into which the insert cannot be inserted again, the timing at which the insert can be inserted can be made possible. In this way, inserts can be inserted each time a defect is found.

Fig. 14 is an illustration of an insert.

In the insert 904, the insert ID905 is printed, for example, at the upper and lower positions. In addition, at the outer peripheral portion of the insert 904, images of colors specified by the pattern information 902 are alternately printed as a pattern image 906. The insert ID and the pattern image 906 are examples of identification information for identifying the insert (second conveyance medium). The identification information may be a mark, a pattern, or the like.

Fig. 15 is an exemplary view of a defect display screen. The display screen described later in fig. 15 is a screen that the display control unit 302 transmits screen information to display on the display unit in response to a request received from the display unit such as an operation panel of the device or a Web browser of another device. The display control unit 302 may display screen information on the display unit by two-way communication or push transmission.

The defect display screen 907 is a screen displayed on the operation panel 133 of the inspection apparatus 13 for displaying the detected defect. The defect display screen 907 includes a "job list" display area 908, a "defect detection page list" display area 909, and a "defect detection image" display area 910.

Fig. 16 is an exemplary view of a job list.

The job list displayed in the "job list" display area 908 includes, as items, the inspection processing start timing, the number of copies of the job, the number of pages of the job, and the defect detection number of pages of the job. In addition, identification information for identifying a job, such as a job name or a job ID, which can identify and identify a plurality of jobs, may be displayed on the job list.

The value of the item "inspection process start timing" is a value indicating the timing at which the inspection process of page 1 of the print job is started.

The value of the item "number of copies of job" is a value indicating the number of copies output in the print job.

The value of the item "page number of job" is a value indicating the page number included in the print job.

The value of the item "defect detection page number of job" is a value indicating the number of pages in which a defect is detected in a print job.

The defect detection page list displayed in the "defect detection page list" display area 909 includes, as items, the defect detection time, the number of occurrences in the job, the occurrence page in the job, the nearby inter-page ID, the color pattern of the nearby inter-page, and the positional relationship with the inter-page.

The value of the item "defect detection timing" is a value indicating the timing at which defects of each page are detected.

The value of the item "number of occurrences in a job" is a value indicating the number of occurrences of a defect.

The value of the item "occurrence page in job" is a value indicating the number of pages in which a defect has occurred.

The value of the item "adjacent insert ID" is a value indicating the insert ID of an insert superimposed in the vicinity of the page in which the defect is detected. Specifically, the defect is detected to determine the insert ID of the inserted insert.

The value of the item "adjacent insert color pattern" is a value indicating a pattern of the color of the outer peripheral portion printed on the sheet of the insert superimposed in the vicinity of the page where the defect is detected. In addition, the pattern image 906, the mark, the pattern, the interleaf ID, or the like of the color printed on the interleaf is identification information that identifies the interleaf (second conveyance medium). By having identification information identifying the onserts (second conveyance medium), when outputting a plurality of onserts, the user can easily find a specific onsert while also easily finding defective paper. The identification information of the onserts (second conveying medium) is information printed on the onserts so as to be visible from the side or the upper side of the discharge portion when the onserts are discharged in the discharge portion of the stacking device 14 or the like and stacked between the printing sheets (first conveying medium). The identification information is printed in a margin-free or blank-free setting at the end, peripheral edge, corner, or the like of the insert, and can be visually recognized even when the information is superimposed on the printing paper. The identification information in the present application is not limited to the above examples, but includes designs composed of patterns or colors.

The value of the item "positional relationship with the onsert" is a value indicating the relationship between the position where the defective page and the onsert are superimposed. The number of sheets to be held and the defect detection surface (upper surface or lower surface) are shown up and down with respect to the insert. In addition to the identification information of the defective sheet such as the sheet ID or the information included in the job information of fig. 8 such as the job ID may be displayed in association with each defect detection page in the "defect detection page list" display area 909 in which the defect detection page list is displayed.

The identification information (such as the pattern image or the insert ID of the insert) of the second conveyance medium displayed by the display control unit 302, the information of the defective first conveyance medium (such as the defect occurrence information or the page ID of the defective paper), and the information indicating the relationship between the positions of the defective first conveyance medium and the second conveyance medium are other examples of "identification information that associates the defective first conveyance mediums with the defective second conveyance mediums separately. For example, the information of each line of the defect detection page list is "identification information for associating a defective plurality of first transport mediums with a defective plurality of second transport mediums, respectively, in a distinguished manner". The "identification information for associating the defective first conveyance media with the defective second conveyance media" may include both the information displayed by the display control unit 302 and the identification information of the insert sheet on which the image is formed. Thus, the user can visually recognize the information printed on the insert of the discharge portion after seeing the displayed information, and can easily recognize a plurality of inserts, thereby easily finding a specific defective paper to be found.

Fig. 18 is an exemplary view of a defect detection image.

In the "defect detection image" display area 910, an image is displayed in which a display 911 indicating a defect detection site is added to the read image data of the print page specified in the defect detection page list shown in fig. 17.

Immediately after detecting the first page in which a defect is detected, the display control unit 302 of the inspection device 13 displays the items other than the items related to the insert as shown in fig. 19.

When the display control unit 302 of the inspection device 13 receives the job information for the insert from the printer main body 11, if the "job type" included in the job information is the "insert for defect detection and identification", the value of the item "insert ID" included in the job information is set to the value of the insert ID "in the vicinity of the item". The display control unit 302 sets a mark corresponding to the color of the item "content" of the insert print information 903 as the value of the insert color pattern "in the vicinity of the item" and sets the relationship between the insert and the superimposed position of the page where the defect is detected as the value of the item "positional relationship with the insert", thereby updating the display content.

The setting screen 912 is a screen for receiving the setting of the insertion interval by the discharge setting unit 315. The setting screen 912 is displayed by the display control unit 302 of the inspection device 13. In the setting screen 912, the number of output sheets of printed paper can be input as an inter-insert interval. When the discharge setting section 315 accepts the setting, the storage section 305 stores information indicating the insertion interval. By receiving the setting by the discharge setting unit 315, the printer main body 11 does not discharge an insert even if a defect is detected during the interval between insert sheets after the last insert sheet is discharged. The settable insertion interval may be the output time (period) or the number of jobs, in addition to the number of sheets to be printed.

As another display example of the defect detection page list, the display control section 302 may form an onsert image using color information and display the onsert image as a value of the item "nearby onsert color pattern". The display control unit 302 may indicate the color name by a letter as a value of the item "adjacent insert color pattern". In addition, although fig. 22 and the like show examples in which rows are added to the defect detection page list in the detected order, the rows may be added to the stacked device 14 in the detected order based on the images.

Fig. 23 is an exemplary view showing the appearance of the discharged sheet.

The discharged sheets are stacked on the stacking device 14. Since the outer periphery of the insert is printed with a pattern in which two colors alternately appear, the insert can be found immediately, with respect to a single color such as white on the outer periphery of many sheets. Even when a plurality of inserts are printed, it is easy to identify the different color patterns as the insert, and the user can immediately find the target insert from the color pattern displayed on the operation panel 133 or the like as the value of the item "adjacent insert color pattern" of the defect detection page list.

In order to easily find the first conveyance medium in which the defect is detected, for example, it is conceivable to superimpose a second conveyance medium such as an insert or the like in a position adjacent to the first conveyance medium in which the defect is detected. However, in this method, in order to discharge the first transport medium from the end of defect determination, it is necessary to secure physical means such as a transport path of a sufficient length to ensure time for defect detection, and it is therefore difficult to realize this.

In addition, in the case where only the position where the first conveyance medium in which the defect is detected is superimposed is displayed, when the superimposed conveyance medium is very large, it may be difficult to find the first conveyance medium in which the defect is detected.

In contrast, according to the image forming system 1 of the present embodiment, it is not necessarily necessary to bring the second conveyance medium such as the insert sheet into abutment with the first conveyance medium in which the defect is detected, and therefore, it is not necessary to secure a physical means such as a conveyance path of a sufficient length as described above.

Further, since the positional relationship with the insert is displayed on the operation panel as the value of the item "positional relationship with the insert" of the defect detection page list, the user can find a sheet in which a defect is detected by counting the number of sheets from the found insert. In addition, since the number of sheets between the insert sheet and the sheet in which the defect is detected is generally not so large, it is considered that it is not difficult to count the number of sheets.

As described above, according to the image forming system 1 according to the present embodiment, the first conveyance medium in which a defect is detected can be easily found.

(Second embodiment)

Hereinafter, a second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that an onsert that has been printed is used to represent a defect of a subsequent print in order to represent the defect. Therefore, in the following description of the second embodiment, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment will be given to the functional configurations having the same features as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The discharge control unit 314 according to the present embodiment uses the printed insert for indicating the defect of the subsequent printing in order to indicate the defect. Specifically, as shown in fig. 24, the display control unit 302 displays not only a defect (first item in fig. 24) that is a trigger for ejecting the insert ID, but also a positional relationship with the already ejected insert when the ejection control unit 314 determines that the insert is not inserted at the time of the defect detection (step S303: no in fig. 11) for the defect detected after the defect detection (second item in fig. 24).

Accordingly, the defect detection page list contains the same inter-page ID (e.g., 0001) in a plurality of entries (e.g., the first entry and the second entry of fig. 24).

In addition, when the correspondence between the insert and the defect detection page is one-to-many, it is necessary to determine the positional relationship between each defect detection page and which insert should be displayed. Then, the display control section 302 determines the onsert that is superimposed closest to the defect detection page. Specifically, the display control unit 302 calculates the number of sheets between the printed onserts received from the printer main body 11 and the defect detection page in the stacking device 14, and determines the onserts having the smallest number of sheets therebetween as the nearest onserts. The insert ID of the insert thus determined is displayed as the value of the item "adjacent insert ID" of the defect detection page list.

In the present embodiment, as in fig. 22, the display control unit 302 may form an onsert image using color information and display the onsert image as a value of the item "nearby onsert color pattern". The display control unit 302 may indicate the color name by a letter as a value of the item "adjacent insert color pattern". In addition, although fig. 25 and the like show examples in which rows are added to the defect detection page list in the detected order, the rows may be added to the stacked device 14 in the detected order based on the images.

According to the image forming system 1 according to the present embodiment, an insert that has been printed is used to indicate a defect in printing thereafter in order to indicate a defect. Thus, a plurality of defect portions can be displayed on one insert, and even if a plurality of defects occur, the number of inserted inserts can be made appropriate.

In the above embodiments, examples in which the image forming apparatus 10 prints an onsert are shown. Accordingly, the onserts of the color tone for the wake purpose can be generated by inexpensive paper, and the change of the color pattern and the like can be flexibly handled, and the labor for preparing the paper for the onserts separately can be saved. Conversely, a pre-printed paper or an object other than paper may be ejected as the defect indicator. For example, the insert IDs may be recorded in a bundle of a plurality of sheets, placed in the sheet feed tray so as to be discharged in the order of the insert IDs, and inserted into the printed sheets. In this case, the printing cost of the onserts is reduced.

In the above embodiments, the DFE50, the inspection device 13, and the printer main body 11 are configured so that the disclosed processing steps can be shared in various combinations. The elements of the DFE50, the inspection device 13, and the printer main body 11 may be integrated into one device or may be divided into a plurality of devices.

For example, the illustrated example is that the inspection device 13 generates the insert print information 903, and the printer main body 11 generates print job data for an insert from the insert print information 903. Thus, the inspection device 13 reduces the load of processing other than inspection, and avoids delay in inspection speed. However, the inspection device 13 may generate print job data for the onserts and transmit the print job data to the printer main body 11. In this case, the inspection device 13 generates image data for PDF or other forms of onsert printing, and transmits the image data to the printer main body 11. In this way, since the printer body 11 can be free from a special configuration for the printing of the onserts, the system can be easily introduced.

In one embodiment, the DFE50 or the inspection apparatus 13 may be configured as an information processing system including a plurality of computing devices such as a server cluster. The plurality of computing devices implement the processes disclosed herein in a configuration that communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including networks, shared memory, and the like.

The functions of the above-described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits. Here, the "processing Circuit" in this specification includes a Processor such as a Processor mounted by an electronic Circuit, which is programmed to execute each function by software, an ASIC (Application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit) designed to execute each function described above, a DSP (DIGITAL SIGNAL Processor) or an FPGA (Field Programmable GATE ARRAY) or a conventional Circuit module, or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the stacking apparatus 14 includes one tray 141 has been described, but a plurality of trays 141 may be provided. For example, the stacking device 14, the tray 141, and the like shown in each of fig. 26 to 29 are examples of the discharging unit in the present application for discharging and stacking printed sheets and interleaving papers. The discharging and stacking method shown in fig. 26 is a method of collecting printed sheets and inserts on one tray 141 and discharging them later. In this way, even if a defective plurality of printed sheets and a plurality of inserts are discharged, they can be easily distinguished from each other.

In addition, when the sheets are collected in one tray and discharged, a plurality of defective printed sheets are contained across a plurality of jobs or a plurality of copies of the same job to be discharged continuously. However, by discharging a plurality of inserts that can be distinguished, even if a plurality of sheets are discharged, the user can easily grasp the position of the defective sheet. As shown in fig. 27, the insert sheets and the printed paper sheets may be discharged separately from each other in a plurality of trays 141. Further, for example, as shown in fig. 28, the insert discharged into the tray 141 of the upper layer may indicate that there is a defect in the image of the printed paper of the tray 141 of the lower layer.

In addition, in the case of discharging sheets to the plurality of trays 141, the trays to be discharged for each print job can be distinguished. At this time, if the onserts are discharged to the uppermost position of the tray 141 as shown in fig. 29, since the onserts are not hidden by the printed paper above, the visual recognition of the onserts is improved, and thus the onserts can be found more easily. At this time, if no insert is provided in the uppermost position (the lowermost tray 141 of fig. 29), since it is possible to discriminate a sheet in which no defect is detected in the print job, operability is improved.

In addition, as shown in fig. 30, when sheets are separately discharged to the plurality of trays 141, the display control unit 302 may display identification information (tray a, tray B, and.) of the discharged tray 141 or the number of layers (layer 1 and layer 2 from the top) of the tray for each sheet after defective printing. This makes it possible to display to which tray 141 the defective sheets and the inserts are discharged, respectively.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown in the embodiments. These may be changed within a range not to impair the gist of the present invention, and may be appropriately determined according to the application mode thereof.

Claims

1. An image forming system, characterized by comprising:

An image forming section that forms an image based on the print information on a first conveyance medium;

An information acquisition section that acquires information related to an image formed on the first conveying medium by the image forming section;

a discharge control section that performs control of discharging a second conveying medium when an image formed on the first conveying medium is defective, based on information related to the acquired image;

a discharge portion that discharges the first conveying medium and the second conveying medium,

A display control unit that controls to display identification information that respectively associates the discharged defective first conveyance media and the discharged defective second conveyance media; and

A discharge setting unit that receives setting of an interval at which discharge control of the second transport medium is performed;

The discharge control unit determines that the defective first medium is discharged when the defect is determined to be present in the image of the first medium, does not discharge the second medium when the defect is determined to be present at or below the set interval after the second medium is discharged, and discharges the second medium when the defect is determined to be present at or above the set interval,

The display control unit displays information of the defective first medium to be discharged after the last discharged second medium to be discharged in association with information of the last discharged second medium to be discharged.

2. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein:

further comprising a defect determination unit configured to determine whether or not there is a defect in an image formed on the first transport medium based on information related to the acquired image,

The discharge control unit controls discharge of the second conveyance medium when the defect determination unit determines that the image is defective.

3. The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

The display control unit controls display information indicating a relationship between a position where the first conveyance medium is superimposed on one of the second conveyance mediums, the position being determined to be defective.

4. The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

The display control unit controls display information indicating a relationship between positions including the number of first conveyance mediums superimposed on the second conveyance medium and the first conveyance medium.

5. The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

The image forming section forms an image on a conveying medium as the second conveying medium.

6. The image forming system according to claim 5, wherein:

The identification information includes identification information of the second conveyance medium indicating that an image is formed in each of the plurality of second conveyance media and indicating that each of the plurality of second conveyance media is a second conveyance medium corresponding to the defective plurality of first conveyance media,

The image forming section forms an image on the conveying medium including identification information of a second conveying medium.

7. The image forming system according to claim 6, wherein:

when the second transport medium is discharged to the discharge portion, the identification information of the second transport medium forms an image on the second transport medium so as to be visible from the side.

8. The image forming system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein:

The identification information for associating each of the defective first transport mediums and the defective second transport mediums includes identification information for the second transport mediums displayed by the display control unit, information for the defective first transport mediums, and information indicating a relationship between overlapping positions of the first transport mediums and the second transport mediums.

9. The image forming system according to claim 5, wherein:

The discharge control section determines a combination of colors contained in an image formed on the second conveyance medium as identification information of the second conveyance medium.

10. The image forming system according to claim 9, wherein:

the discharge control section instructs the image forming section to print an image containing identification information of the second conveying medium.

11. The image forming system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein:

The display control unit controls to display the color included in the image formed on the second transport medium.

12. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein:

The interval at which the discharge setting unit can set the discharge control of the second transport medium is any one of the number of output sheets, the output time, and the number of jobs of the first transport medium.

13. An inspection apparatus, comprising:

an information acquisition section that acquires information related to an image formed on a first conveyance medium;

A discharge control section that performs control of discharging the second conveying medium when an image formed on the first conveying medium is defective based on information related to the acquired image,

14. A computer-implemented inspection method, comprising:

a step of acquiring information related to an image formed on a first conveyance medium;

A step of performing control of discharging a second conveying medium when an image formed on the first conveying medium is defective based on information related to the acquired image,

The control is performed by a step of displaying identification information for differentially associating the discharged defective plurality of first conveyance mediums and the discharged defective plurality of second conveyance mediums; and

Receiving a setting of an interval at which discharge control of the second transport medium is performed;

When it is determined that there is a defect in the image of the first conveyance medium, it is determined that there is a defect in the image of the first conveyance medium that the second conveyance medium is not discharged even if it is determined that there is a defect after the second conveyance medium is discharged, and when it is determined that there is a defect in the image of the first conveyance medium, it is determined that there is a defect in the first conveyance medium, the second conveyance medium is discharged,

And displaying the information of the defective first conveying medium discharged after the last discharged second conveying medium in a corresponding manner with the information of the second conveying medium discharged at the present time.